AHL: It's fast-forward for Worcester Sharks' Matt Pelech

Thursday

Jan 24, 2013 at 6:00 AM

Bill Ballou AHL

Unlike players, lines are not officially numbered, so we’ll have to see if Matt Pelech’s line winds up as the Sharks’ fourth line, or their force line.

They are not moving him up to be a 30-goal scorer, that’s for sure. “I’ve never really been one to put the puck in the net a lot,” Pelech said, “but I know that when you’re a forward, even if it’s on the fourth line, you’re expected to have scoring chances. So what I’m hoping to do is to maybe cause some havoc in the offensive zone, and that way create some scoring chances for my linemates.”

Pelech is right. He has never filled the net with pucks. Since he’s been with the Sharks, however, he has filled opposition forwards with fear. Now that he has been moved up front, everybody on the other team is at risk, as shown in Saturday’s game against Adirondack.

Ever since Pelech filled in at forward during last season’s injury epidemic to forwards — this season, it’s defensemen getting hurt, and it’s funny how that works — the Sharks have been intrigued with the idea of moving him there permanently, or at least trying it.

As a forward, Pelech retained his innate aggressiveness and was truly a disruptive force. For a player who averages about a goal each season, he’s not just a big lug. Pelech has skills that may translate into more goals than he anticipates.

After all, he was a first-round draft choice by Calgary in 2005.

“I don’t know that this is going to be permanent,” Pelech said. “Right now, this is what the team needs from me, and if this is what they need me to do to help win, then I’ll do whatever it takes. If some day that means going back on defense, then I’ll do that, too.”

Pelech was fine when the Sharks made the move last season. Almost no player would ever publicly complain about having to switch positions, but everything about Pelech — his demeanor, body language, effort level — said that he had no problem with it.

“Hey — I’m playing hockey,” he said. “And if I’m playing hockey, then it really doesn’t matter what position, I’m happy.”

The move also allowed him to play alongside his younger brother, Michael, at least for one game. Michael was sent back to Cincinnati of the ECHL last Thursday.

“It was awesome,” Matt said. “I told one of my friends that not only was I playing on the same team as Mikey, but we were on the same line. He wouldn’t believe me.

“We had never played together, except for pickup games, and we played against each other in the Ontario Hockey League.”

Michael Pelech could be back, if roster spots open up again. The Sharks liked what they saw in his brief stint, and a Pelech-Pelech-anybody line would be a lot of fun to watch.

But not much fun to play against, which is exactly what every team wants from a fourth, or force, line.

The Sharks’ postlockout hall pass has been revoked. Danny Groulx is expected to play this weekend as well as Tim Kennedy. With Matt Irwin and Nick Petrecki in the NHL, and Sena Acolatse and Taylor Doherty still injured, Worcester’s defense remains a bit thin. Still, recalls by the NHL and injuries are a fact of life in the AHL and the Sharks can’t use the end of the lockout as a reason for not winning. … The team’s extended deal with the DCU Center should bring it to the 10-year mark in town. While it is officially a two-plus-option agreement, Sharks officials signed it expecting to go the full three seasons. It was officially announced along with the building’s modernization plans, and one interesting sidelight is that work is supposed to begin in May. If Worcester makes a long Calder Cup run, though, it will still be playing in May and perhaps even into June. Management is aware of that possibility and does have a backup plan. … Grand Rapids won in Rockford, 11-6, on Saturday night. The Griffins became the first AHL team to score that many goals in a road game since Providence won, 14-2, at Syracuse — on the way to winning the Calder Cup — on Nov. 25, 1998. Grand Rapids scored one more goal in that game than the Sharks have in their last six.

Questions:

1. Who had the two assists on the first goal in Sharks history?

2. Which NHL team is the closest, geographically, to its AHL affiliate?

3. Who is the only Sharks player ever called for a match penalty?

Answers below.

Irwin, who before this season had been called up twice to San Jose without getting into an NHL game, finally made his major league debut on Sunday in the NHL Sharks’ season opener. It took him 175 AHL games to get to the NHL, a little shy of Andrew Desjardins’ record of 212 AHL games before making his NHL debut. Irwin is the 27th player to make it to the NHL after playing for the AHL Sharks and the 23rd to make that debut with San Jose. … After their 2-1 loss to Adirondack last weekend, Worcester players were not happy with the work of referee Trevor Hanson, mostly because he was inconsistent. The Sharks fouls were fouls, in general, but during the third period the Phantoms got away with a couple of pretty obvious trips and interferences. The tone was set early with Matt Pelech’s huge hit in the corner on Cullen Eddy — it was a tremendous check, but with that kind of impact it had to be either charging or boarding. … Brandon Mashinter was 1-2-3 in Hartford’s 6-5 victory over Adirondack Wednesday night. He had as many points in that game as in his last 22 games in a Sharks uniform. … How timely that, in the week when the country inaugurated a president, Worcester had a Kennedy (Tim), a Grant (Tommy) and a Wilson (Michael) on the roster at the same time. … The DCU Center folks had better get the door to the visitors’ tunnel realigned before it costs a team a goal. Of course, that’s also the end where the Sharks shoot twice, so maybe there’s no need to rush. … Grand Rapids Griffins center Joakim Andersson is Player of the Week. He was 2-5-7 in two games.

1. Joe Pavelski and Dan Spang set up Mathieu Darche for the first goal scored by the Sharks. It was in Portland on Oct. 6, 2006.

2. The Air Canada Centre, home to the Toronto Maple Leafs, is 1.9 miles — make that 3.2 kilometres — from Ricoh Coliseum, where the Toronto Marlies play.

3. Matt Pelech’s match penalty for a check to the head on Nov. 25 of this season is the only one called on a Sharks player in the team’s 516-game existence.

Trevor Byrne was the opposite of an Original IceCat. The Dartmouth defenseman skated for the final IceCats team in 2004-05, then joined them on their trip west to Peoria. Byrne wound up having a five-year pro career in the minors, the first two years of which were spent in Worcester.

His last season was with the Iowa Stars in 2007-08, after which shoulder problems sent him into retirement. With that Dartmouth degree, however, Byrne has had no trouble making a living outside of hockey and working in the financial sector with Morgan Stanley in Boston.

“Absolutely none,” Byrne replied when asked if he had any regrets about his pro career. “It gave me a chance to delay living in the ‘real world,’ and I got a chance to chase my dream, which is something not everybody gets to do.”

Byrne had a great rookie season in 2003-04, scoring seven goals, including an extra-attacker score, versus Manchester with 15 seconds left in the third period in front of a crowd of 10,109. He spent some time in the ECHL in 2004-05, but took a regular shift during the IceCats’ final game on April 17, 2005.

He skates in a high-level men’s league in his native Hingham and looks forward to perhaps coaching when his children get older. Byrne has not been back to the DCU Center since 2005, but occasionally sees a Bruins game with his old Dartmouth teammate Mike Murray, the AHL’s vice president of hockey operations.